ff. i + 363 (+ 3 unfoliated medieval parchment flyleaves at the beginning and at the end; f. i is a medieval parchment flyleaf)

Form

Parchment codex

Binding

BM/BL in-house. Gilt edges.

Provenance

A member of the Anjou family of Naples (perhaps Robert of Anjou (b. 1277, d. 1343), king of Naples and titular king of Jerusalem): the arms of Anjou, Anjou-Naples, Anjou-Hungary, and Anjou quartered with Provence, assigned to Greek heroes in the miniatures (e.g., ff. 21v, 35, 35v, 88), with the modified arms of Jerusalem (f. 138v).Charles V (b. 1338, d. 1380), king of France: to be identified with the 'Dez faiz de Troye, des Roumains, de Thèbes, de Alexandre le Grant, hystorié au commencement, escript de lettre boulenoise, et sont les ystoires par les marges très anciennes' listed in the catalogue of his Louvre library composed after his death in 1380, no. 93 (see Léopold Delisle, Recherches sur la Librairie de Charles V, 2 vols (Paris: Champion, 1907), II, no 1211).Charles VI, king of France: inherited by him with the Louvre Library; a note in the catalogue of 1380 recording a withdrawal of the manuscript by the king before his pilgrimage to Mont Saint-Michel, c. 1393-1394, 'Le roy le print quant il ala au Mont Saint Michel' (See Avril 1969).Jean of Valois, (b. 1340, d.1416), duke of Berry: included in the inventory of his library of 1413, no. 61: 'Item un livre des Histoires de Troye, d'Alixandre et des mains, ouquel fault le commancement, lequel fut du roy, et au commancement du secont feuillet a escript: et fait; et est couvert de cuir vert, fermant à deux fermouers de laton' (See Delisle, 1907, II, no 226).Renaut (or Regnault) du Montet, Parisian libraire, probably responsible for supervising the production of the copy of Royal 20 D I, identified with Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, fr. 301: a note recording of a missing quire in his possession that was given to the Parisian illuminator Perrin Remiet (or Remy), active 1368, or c. 1396-1420 : 'Ci faut le secomt cayer que maistre Renaut doit avoir, qui fut baille / a Perrin Remiet po[ur] faire lenluminure de lautre cayer', (f. 8); probably to be identified with the Neapolitan manuscript copied for Jean, duke of Berry, for which Bureau de Dampmartin, duke's agent, paid an unnamed libraire in 1402 (see Rouse 2000, I).List of contents, 15th century (f. i verso).Inscribed: 'Viue le roy noble Henry / O misericordia of the Taxe', 15th century (f. i).The Old Royal Library (the English Royal Library): probably to be identified with 'La destruction de Thebes' included in the list of books at Richmond Palace of 1535, no. 104; and in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 11.Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library.

Notes

Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts.This manuscript contains the second redaction of the text, probably produced in the 14th century and the Roman de Troie is the Prose 5 version (see Jung 1996, pp. 440, 506). The revision did not achieve the popularity of the original text (which survives in around seventy manuscripts), and is now preserved in only thirteen manuscripts.It is drawn from a variety of sources, covering ancient history from Thebes in the time of Oedipus to Rome in the time of Pompey. This is the earliest surviving copy of this second redaction of 'Histoire ancienne jusq'à César', which focuses on Troy, eliminating the biblical histories and the history of Alexander. It preserves the sections dedicated to Thebes, the Greeks and Amazons, Aeneas, Rome, and the Persians. Following the Italian fashion the illustrations are in the lower margin rather than integrated in the text.The direct copies of Royal 20 D I, produced in France, are: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale fr. 301, and Stowe 54. Paris fr. 301was probably illuminated by Perrin Remiet (the 1st painter, according to Avril 1969) and includes four miniatures (ff. 25, 59, 134v, 147) copied from Royal 20 D I (ff. 26v, 67, 154, 169).Catchwords and bifolium signatures. Correction sign 'cor xxvii' (f. 254v).According to Sagesse (2010), the four full-page miniatures might have been painted by the Neapolitan, Christophoro Orimina.